Orchestrator is designed to interact with all of your data center systems. Computer groups enable you to target selected activities against a set of similar computer systems instead of a single computer. By configuring the activities in your runbook to use a computer group, you have the flexibility to add computers dynamically by adding them to the computer group.

Computer groups can be created with Active Directory queries. By using Active Directory queries, you can manage the list of computers in a group outside of Orchestrator. For example, if you have a computer group that is created from an Active Directory query that retrieves all the instances of Microsoft SQL Server, when an instance of SQL Server is added to your Active Directory system, it will automatically be included in that group.

For additional help, please refer to the on-line documentation for System Center 2012 - Orchestrator.

Managing Computer Groups

To use computer groups in your activities, create a computer group, and then add computers to it. You can add computers by using the name of the computer, an Active Directory query, or a System Center Configuration Manager collection.

You can also organize your computer groups into folders. Use the following steps to create a new folder.

To create a new folder

  1. From the Connections pane in the Runbook Designer, click the Computer Groups folder or a sub-folder.

  2. Right-click and from the menu select New and then Folder.

Use the following procedure to add a computer group.

To add a computer group

  1. From the Connections pane, right-click the Computer Groups folder or a subfolder.

  2. Click New, and then click Computer Group to open the New Computer Group dialog box.

  3. In the New Computer Group dialog box, on the General tab, type a Name and Description of the computer group.

  4. Click the Contents tab. The list displays all the computer entries that make up this computer group.

  5. Click Add to open the Entry Type dialog box.

  6. Select the type of entry that you want to add to the computer group. You have the choice to select Computer, Active Directory Query, or SMS Collection.

    • If you selected Computer, type the name of the computer that you are adding, or click the ellipsis (…) button next to the Computer box, and then select the applicable computer. Click OK to add the computer. Click Add and repeat this step to add more computers to the group.

    • If you selected Active Directory Query, click OK to open the Enter a name dialog box. Type the name of the entry that will be listed into the box, and then click OK.

      In the Find Computers dialog box that opens create the Active Directory query. Click the Find Now button to see what computers match your query. Click OK to add the query.

    • If you select SMS Collection, type the name of the server that you are adding, or click the ellipsis (…) button next to the Server box, and then select the applicable computer.

To modify settings

  1. To modify the settings of an entry you added, click the entry on the Contents tab, and then click Modify.

  2. To remove an entry on the Contents tab, click the entry, and then click Remove.

Using a Computer Group in an Activity

Any standard activity that requires you to identify a Computer name in the configuration properties dialog box, such as the Send Event Log Message activity, can use a computer group. Other activities can use the Computer Group where you define a remote system or computer.

Use the following procedure to use a computer group.

To use a computer group

  1. Right-click the applicable activity from your runbook, select Properties from the menu, and then select the Details tab to open the activities properties dialog box.

  2. In the Computer box, right-click to open a menu, select Subscribe, and then select Computer Group to open the Select Computer Group dialog box.

  3. Select the computer group, and then click OK.

    A placeholder {computer group name} is inserted next to the computer name in the Computer box.

    When the activity runs, it runs on each computer in the group.